April is upon us and that means the desert is calling my name. Coachella has come and gone and only pictures and memories remain, so here is a detailed account of one man’s journey to his seventh Coachella festival, from the campground to the Sahara Tent. Examiner.com is going to be bringing a ton of post-Coachella news, pictures, and interviews, so stay tuned!
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The best way to start your Friday is with some energy and Chk Chk Chk brought out the best in people that were struggling through the midday heat. Lead singer Nic Offer gyrated his way through the 50-minute set and entertained those brave enough to withstand the Outdoor Theatre’s lack of shade and breeze. The sharp punk had enough edge to it to wake you up with a deep enough groove to find something to dance about. Not mindblowing, but a solid effort from a definite Coachella band.
This was probably the letdown of the weekend for me, as I was pumped about seeing a version of The Mars Volta that focuses more on their biggest strength: guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. His picking and sweeping are reminiscent of Carlos Santana and combined with vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the two are an unstoppable force. That is, of course, if the soundboard mix is accurate, which it was not. After everyone took the stage and started warming up, it was clear that the only discernable sound was going to be the vocals. All of the other instruments mashed together into a flurry of noise and at one point Rodriguez-Lopez picked up his guitar and stopped strumming, but the flurry of noise continued on just the same. Not understanding why this happened or if it was going to get fixed quickly, it was time to move on to the Sahara Tent. Time is always of the essence at Coachella!
Excision
Dubstep was the password of the weekend as the U.K.’s newest musical export has become extremely popular over the past year. Excision is a Canadian musician that uses all genres to infuse with dubstep to make a heavier, fuller sound that pushes the listener to pay attention, instead of spoon-feeding the bass so they can dance. This was a pre-3pm set, so no lights or screens to mention, but the audio was crisp and his remixes were solid.
Angelino Sonny “Skrillex” Moore had more hype than many other electronic acts over the weekend, even without a single LP release to date. His remixes of La Roux and Lady Gaga have made him a mainstay with those dipping their feet into the dubstep pool, but a tough daytime set was a worthy task on the first day of Coachella. The guy looks a bit nervous on stage and he flips his hair back more than a model eating a rack of barbeque ribs, but he stood strong during transitions and delivered a great set including a cover of Pendulum’s “Salt in the Wounds.” The screens and light show chosen fit his musical style perfectly, changing from intense and rocking to fluid and dirty. The dubstep wobbles balanced nicely with the house-style pulse-pumping and random chiptunes. The weirdest moment, however, was when the young producer invited Jonathon Davis and Munky from KoRn on stage to debut their new collaborative single “Get Up.” Then they did a slowed-down version of “Blind,” the classic 90’s meal track that launched KoRn’s career. It was beyond strange and the crowd didn’t really know what to make of it.
This was uncomfortable. The underground hip-hop armada OFWGKTA came out late, talked trash about Coachella’s staff, and then proceeded to frighten everyone that just enjoyed Skrillex. Odd Future is not concerned with your approval, America, and they showed it by rapping “Stab that bitch and take her purse.” This caused quite a few people to leave, including myself, when it became clear that the band didn’t want to be there, the audience didn’t want to watch them, and there were four other stages to check out. Luckily, they opened with their best track “Sandwiches” but went downhill from there.
Pains of Being Pure at Heart
A hidden gem was in the tent next to the mini-gangsters in the form of Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Not only is their song long, but their songs work. It’s so tough to find a band that you want to actually watch for more than six minutes before the sun goes down, but Pains put a well-crafted show together with music I would describe as deceivingly quaint. They give you the stereotypical look and surface-level style to make you throw them in the same boat as every other band you see wearing the same outfits, but the music is mature and they enjoy playing it.
Cee Lo Green
Dooming the rest of the day, Cee Lo appeared twenty minutes later than scheduled, but apologized before singing his solo hit single and Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” He attempted to cover “Don’t Stop Believing,” but was cut off before the song ended. Rough day for that guy.
A tough swirl of multiple interesting acts appeared from 7:30 until 9ish, with Interpol, Marina and the Diamonds, and Erick Morillo all playing at the same time. Interpol put on a strong main stage effort with interesting visuals, but the decision to show “fans” on the big screens that were falling asleep or too drugged out of their mind to concentrate was a terrible idea. Marina did her best to matter and failed miserably. With Ke$has, Gagas, Perry’s, Little Boots, and every other mini-Madonna stomping around these days, who needs another voice saying the same thing in a different way? Erick Morillo was definitely the right choice here, as his use of the new Sahara tent LED Installations were jaw-dropping and his choice of up-tempo house rhythms delivered on all fronts. The Columbian DJ was the first act to really make the Sahara work for me, although the videos I’ve seen of Afrojack’s performance make me wish I just watched that instead of trying to catch bits and pieces of the Interpol and Marina. Such is life at Coachella.
Magnetic Man
This Dubstep trio is made up of three of the best artists in the London DJ scene and 9pm was their United States debut. The band is known for having a gigantic cube, but member Skream told me it was too costly to ship, which was a shame as that timeslot is begging for some sort of theatrical event. Instead, fans got a well-rounded set-list that showed off the band’s skill level, but not as much creativity or imagery as some Sahara patrons were looking for. Especially after Erick Morillo’s fist-pumping set, the crowd was hungry for more lights and more fury. Also, the running theme of having a hype person who basically ruins your song by screaming incoherently is tired and needs to be stopped.
Crystal Castles
Having played a few festivals in the last few years, Crystal Castles has built a reputation for chaos. Their synth and bass drives harder than police chase on the 405 and singer Alice Glass is the epitome of “badass.” She appeared on stage with a crutch under her left arm, which made sense when you saw the giant cast over her left foot supporting a broken ankle. This didn’t stop her one bit, as she trashed, jumped, wailed, and rolled around as much as any other show I’ve seen them play. Ethan Kath is a mad scientist behind his Korg’s and creates some of the best backdrops for Glass to scream over. The combination of top notch production, insane strobe lighting, and an uncanny front woman made for the best act of Friday night.
Nosaj Thing
The Gobi tent fostered young beatmaster Nosaj Thing (say it quickly to get the joke) and his simple synchronized set was a thing of lo-fi beauty. Using a couple MacBooks and some pre-programmed digital beat pads, the mechanical fortitude displayed by SoCal native warmed up quickly and stayed hot in the desert evening. Changing from style to style by throwing in remixes and renditions of Portishead and other Coachella staples, the crowd was entranced from the solo act and stared diligently at the visual escapade behind him. Think of a Pretty Lights show, but without the drums, lasers, lights, and star power. Nosaj Thing managed to make his one-man band stand apart in a weekend of elaborate set pieces and glorified self-promotion.
Despite being thrity minutes late, The Chemicals Brothers did not rush through their headlining slot on Friday night. Sure, some consider The Black Keys or Kings of Leon the big draws, but nobody pulls a crowd to Coachella like The Chemical Brothers. The set was superior, bringing a mix of newer and older tracks such as “Horse Power,” “Get Yourself High,” and the excellent opener “Galvanize”. As soon as they “pushed the button,” the crowd gave the most impressive synchronized glow stick toss I have ever seen at Coachella. Sadly, nothing from their new soundtrack for the film “Hanna” was performed, but who knows what else the Brothers had in store had they had time to play a full set. When the house lights came on before 1:30 and the duo shrugged their shoulders while pointing to their watches, the crowd wanted to dance more but felt satisfied enough with what had just happened to let it go.
Overall, it was a packed day with one glaring issue: Coachella’s choice to put The Chemical Brothers against German DJ Boys Noize. Those two acts are easily comparable in terms of fan base and to have them square off on the very first night was not only cruel, it guaranteed to cause conflict for all patrons and crippled what potentially could have been an amazing Chemical Brothers performance in the Sahara Tent. This especially sucked due to the delay on the main stage, so even those that showed up early to catch a bit of both got screwed. Luckily, the second day would mend all timeslot wounds and make up for a frustrating Friday finale.
Top Three Moments:
Crystal Castles’ Alice Glass stagediving while on crutches
The impressive main stage for The Chemical Brothers
Skrillex living up to the hype with a great daytime Sahara performance
Top Three WTF Moments:
KoRn jamming with Skrillex
Cee-Lo’s debacle
Aquabats bringing Danny DeVito and Falcor from Neverending Story on stage
Biggest Regret:
Not seeing Boys Noize
Stay tuned for reviews of Day 2 and 3 tomorrow, as well as an interview with Magnetic Man’s Skream.
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